A Sugar Mill teacher, Riley has been teaching in the Fort Bend district for 12 years. She taught fourth and fifth grades at Lexington Creek as well as sixth grade at Quail Valley Middle School. This is her third year at Sugar Mill.

Principal Linda Marsters said she had asked Riley to be a substitute teacher at Sugar Mill long ago because Riley's mother was a kindergarten teacher at the school.

"She was great when she was here, so I told her she needed to get a degree in education and come back," Marsters said.

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Riley, who already had a degree in accounting, moved to Saudi Arabia, where she taught her three girls. When she returned to Sugar Land, she knew teaching was what she wanted to do.

She received her degree, but no position was available at Sugar Mill. When a teaching position opened, Marsters brought her into the school.

"She began here and she is ending here," Marsters said. "I always considered myself to be a good teacher, but she is truly a sterling teacher."

Riley, 49, said she likes to do a lot of self-directed activities in her classroom.

Being strong in math, she sets up "math menus" for the students. "If they make a 100 on a pre-test, they can begin working on a math menu and it's incentive for them. It teaches them to be careful on what they do."

Journaling is also an important part of her classroom.

"I don't like to use the textbook a lot, but we read from novels. I have the students journal every day," she said.

The journals are for other pupils to read and make comments.

"After the reader makes a comment on someone's journal, they have to write their initials," she said. "I tell them they need to stand up for what they say."

Riley said she also journals every day and leaves it open in the classroom for pupils to comment.

"Every day is different," she said. "You just never know what one of these students is going to say. You don't know how the next day is going to go. Kids will say the strangest thing, but you have to have an answer."

Riley said a large part of her teaching is preparing her pupils for sixth grade.

"I have a lock I pass around so they know how to unlock a combination lock," she said. "I taught sixth grade and I know how it is. I teach them about time management."

When her name was announced as "teacher of the year," she said she literally could not breathe.

"I think I was stunned, I couldn't breathe," she said. "That night was to celebrate my mother's (Emogene Daurity) retirement from teaching, but it turned out to be a double celebration. I was happy for my school and my students. I did not want to let them down."

Marsters said Riley is passionate about her job.

"She's here early, she stays late," said Marsters, who has been principal for 14 years. "Her strength is math, but she is going back to school to learn more about science because she feels it's necessary."

"I have to learn, too," Riley said. "I want to continue learning and be a teacher the kids come back to. I have been to soccer games, baseball games, diving competitions and that's what teaching is about.

"These kids are going to be doing amazing things as they grow up and I want to be part of that," she said. "I want to be there for all of them."